The Dead - The Criterion Collection 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

The Dead begins in Dublin, 1904, on a cold, snowy night in January. A dinner party of guests assembles at the home of sisters Kate and Julia Morkan. Faces familiar to the sisters show up as the night progresses. There’s Freddy, a drunken wreck, trying to hide his intoxication from his mother, who is there to get in the way and run interference as he attempts to imbibe more glasses of wine throughout the evening. No one can rightly blame him, though, for drinking the way he does with a mother like her. Everyone has a story to tell, something that makes them more than just the superficial facade they present to the world. The sisters keep the evening going through games, food, and song. 

When the party ends, many of them–beyond just Freddy, that is–will have drunk too much alcohol. Some of them will have eaten too much. And some of them, like Gretta Conroy (Anjelica Huston, director John Huston’s daughter), will have a life that slipped through her fingers flash before her eyes, as he wonders what may have been, what could have been, with a love that was never realized. 

If The Dead follows the rhythms and cadence of a short story, that’s because it follows more or less the same format as the short story written by James Joyce. In the way of “plot” or “story,” there’s not much there, but this isn’t that kind of movie. We don’t need some arbitrary guardrail, snaking us along through perfunctory beats in a formula, specifically to keep our interest. The Dead is a slice of life, on a single evening, in the lives of a dozen or so people who’ve gathered to celebrate another day of being alive with one another. The evening we spend with these characters culminates in a number of epiphanies that, on their surface, seem sad. Perhaps they are, but more melancholic. At times, we are haunted by ghosts in our lives, and they manifest at the strangest times. And we sit with our thoughts, cycling through their various meanings–not crippled with emotion, but processing these complex feelings. 

Throughout the party, we often feel like guests in attendance, along with the others. The camera rarely goes above eye-level, and we cut back and forth between conversations in separate rooms of the house. In a moment where one of the sisters sings a song for her guests, the camera seizes the opportunity to take leave and explore one of the rooms, soaking in every detail. A Victorian dollhouse. Jewelery. Furniture. We take a close look at it all, a moment alone, for once, to savor the decorations.

The Dead was a family affair, directed by John Huston, his last film before his death, written by his son Tony, and starring his daughter Anjelica. Huston’s swan song often feels like the director speaking directly to the audience, as he comes to terms with his final days and waxes philosophical about death. It’s not a depressive slog, and it’s not a tour through misery. One day, all of us will be dead. And while it may take its toll when we realize this inescapable fact, there’s no reason why we can’t have fun until the end.

Vital Disc Stats: The Ultra HD Blu-ray
The Dead arrives in a two-disc release, courtesy of the Criterion Collection, housed in a standard case. Inside the case is a booklet containing an essay by Michael Koresky and a 1987 piece by screenwriter Tony Huston about the making of the film. The film’s new cover, a simple, elegant image of falling snow, was created by Leanne Shapton.

For this release, The Dead was scanned in 4K from its original 35mm camera negative, supervised by director of photography Fred Murphy. Presented in 2160p resolution and graded in Dolby Vision HDR, it looks excellent throughout. Swimming in organic film grain, and dimly lit as if by candlelight, it embraces a naturalistic aesthetic, with a muted color palette that leans toward darker hues like blacks and browns, while skin tones look healthy and radiant. This release improves upon previous releases. While Lionsgate’s previous releases looked great, they seemed a bit overly brightened, whereas Criterion’s transfer allows the dark, shadowy look of a Dublin household on a cold winter’s night in the early 20th century to be fully embraced.

The Dead comes equipped with a DTS-HD MA 4.0 surround mix. While some subtle sound effects make their way to the rear of the soundstage, like a gentle applause after a song or a poetry reading, the satellite speakers are mostly used for Alex North’s haunting musical score. A 4.0 surround mix means there will be no dedicated center channel for audio, and the front stage will be roughly equivalent to a stereo mix. Dialogue is favored, as it should be, in this largely talky picture. Ambient effects are few and far between, with music being used sparingly, too. This almost feels like a stageplay, in that it’s 95% people talking to one another, in hushed tones, which always comes across crisp and clear as a bell. This mix is excellent.

On the supplemental features front, probably the biggest addition to this disc is a 2K restoration of John Huston and the Dubliners, a behind-the-scenes documentary from Lilyan Sievernich. There are also excerpts from Anjelica Huston’s memoir, Watch Me.

• Interview (HD 23:27) - With Colum McCann, discussing James Joyce’s short story and its film adaptation
• Excerpt (HD 12:36) - From Anjelica Huston’s memoir, Watch Me
• John Huston and the Dubliners (HD 59:37)

The Dead is a powerful story about how small moments can make us see an entire evening in a new light. John Huston’s film isn’t an obsession with the certainty of death; it’s about how life is often shaped by this unavoidable fate. Our lives, more than we care to admit, are shaped by the simple fact that, one day, all of us will be dead. The Dead begins as a celebration and ends as a thoughtful meditation. It’s funny, it’s sad, and it’s joyful, all at once. Criterion’s release of the film looks great, boasts an excellent (if subdued) four-channel surround mix, and features some great supplements. The Dead is Highly Recommended.